I’m still SOH today, my platform is not working…

Posted on October 31, 2012 by TraderHank
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My Fusion trading platform is not working today, I guess they forgot to cover their equipment and it got rained on.  Very frustrating week with the NYSE and Nasdaq closed Monday and Tuesday and now Fusion closed today.  This would have been a good vacation week.  At least I was able to place a Forex trade in AUDUSD which triggered yesterday.  My Forex trading approach is completely different from my equity trading due to my home being in the Pacific time zone.  The best time to trade Forex live would be 12 am my time to about 6 am.  I used to trade 2 am – 6 am and flip and trade the equities from 6:30 to 1 pm close, but this really is non-sense.  Now I look for a trade on the hourly time frame in the Forex market and basically set it and forget it, placing both the entry and exits and walking away.  I call it TraderHank’s west coast method…  Here is the chart for my AUDUSD short…

AUDUSD10312012
AUDUSD10312012

AUDUSD10312012

AUDUSD10312012
AUDUSD10312012

      

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TraderHank’s final update on his trade in XLNX

Posted on October 25, 2012 by TraderHank
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I closed out of XLNX at the end of the day with a small loss.  The market never continued lower but never could trigger a 5 minute uptrend either, we just drifted sideways for the rest of the afternoon.  I really did not have another play that I felt confident in placing.  I really needed this market to break up or down before I would trade again and this just did not happen.  Basically XLNX was a scratch trade for me and this is exactly how a professional trader has a losing day, it’s a very tiny loss!  Overall, I’ve had a great week of trading and made my goal on Monday and added to it Wednesday after taking the day off on Tuesday.  Tomorrow, I’ll be on the Golf course so this may be the last update until the weekend.  If I were trading tomorrow, I’d wait for the market to make a move higher or lower, taking out the high or low from today’s price action in the QQQ’s, before deciding on a play.  Have a great TGIF!

XLNX ii
XLNX ii

       

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I had my fishing pole in the wrong place…

Posted on October 25, 2012 by TraderHank
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I came close to catching a big move lower in AUDUSD but my fishing pole was in the wrong place.  Oh well, next time…

AUDUSD10252012
 
AUDUSD10252012

AUDUSD10252012
AUDUSD10252012

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QQQ update and TraderHank’s Short in XLNX

Posted on October 25, 2012 by TraderHank
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The market gaped up this morning and had a hard time remaining above the 65.50 area.  The Q’s did put in a 5 minute buy at 10 am but could not break through the high of the day that was set at the open 9:30 am.  We are currently heading toward Major support after minor support was taken out.  My first play was in XLNX which I found off my Daily list looking for further weakness after yesterday’s big Red wide range bar lower.  XLNX gaped up this morning, ran upward for the first 5 minutes, then it put in a nice topping tail.  The next 5 minute bar took out the low, this was my entry with stop at the top of the topping tail.  Price action pretty much went sideways from there, testing the high again causing a symptom that I call “Butt Pucker”.  My stop held and price finally is moving lower, we will have to see what happens.  I’ve been cautious so far this morning and I believe this has kept me out of trouble.  The market really needs to make a move first before I’ll be taking another trade, but for now we are sideways going into lunch….

xlnx10252012
xlnx10252012

   

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QQQ analysis and TraderHank’s stock picks for Thursday, October 25th, 2012

Posted on October 24, 2012 by TraderHank
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Longs:  

HOG – Daily 123 pattern

Shorts:

CHRW – Gap continuation

JNPR – Wide Range Bar

BRCM – WRB

XLNX -WRB

Today after the Fed announcement the market looked like it had a shot of Whiskey with price action in the QQQ all over the place.  We did close near the day’s low and we may have a similar price action tomorrow or what you may call a hangover from Wednesday’s Fed day.  I’d let price action break the 65.00 area before taking another short, if this happens, look to play a pull back just below the 65.00 area, near reversal time at 10 or 10:30 am, on a 5 minute or 15 minute sell setup, with your target at the 64.00 area.  If price gaps up and rallies I’d be looking for a sell setup at 10 am at or near the 65.50 area of minor resistance.  I would stay away from long plays until the 5 minute downtrend ends.  My bias is caution because if we look left on the daily chart you will notice that price action is nearing an area of overlapping bars which could cause price action to become choppy and less predictable, make sure you look up a time frame for clarity.  

qqq10252012
qqq10252012

            

Posted in Daily Analysis, Recommendations, TraderHank's Stock Picks | Comments Off on QQQ analysis and TraderHank’s stock picks for Thursday, October 25th, 2012

QQQ update and TraderHank’s Gap play in GILD

Posted on October 24, 2012 by TraderHank
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As mentioned in yesterday’s post, today has been tricky with the market gaping up into Major support (near yesterday’s prior highs) and setting the high for the day at 9:35 am @ 65.87.  Then the market sold off making a lower high at 10:00 am and continuing lower.  We currently are in a 5 minute downtrend in the QQQ and I would imagine that most traders are SOH (Sit On Hands) until the Fed announcement at 2:15 pm.  My first and only trade was in GILD which I found on my gap up list this morning before the market opened.  I’ve come to like gap plays because they trade independent of the market, and make excellent plays on Fed days where my bias is usually “Caution”.  I found my entry on a 1 minute chart of GILD which price had formed a narrow 5 bar base.  My entry was over the top of the base and the stop was below.  Price action in GILD ran up nicely for the first 5 minutes then I was stopped out by a bad tick in the market.  I saw the print so it was real, but the large bottoming tail on the fifth bar up hit my stop and caused my platform to sell off my entire lot size.  My play ended with a full “R” of profit so I guess I could live with it 🙂  I chose not to re-enter the play, although GILD pulled back and setup again, because it’s a Fed day and these days can be a day traders nightmare, so I just had another cup of coffee and watched.  Besides, a trader who makes 1 “R” (Risk Unit ex. $300 per trade) unit per day makes a great living…  Here is the chart for my play in GILD.

GILD10242012
GILD10242012

     

Posted in Daily Analysis, Gap plays | Comments Off on QQQ update and TraderHank’s Gap play in GILD

QQQ anaylsis and stock picks for Wednesday, October 24th, 2012

Posted on October 23, 2012 by TraderHank
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Longs:

CHRW – Daily buy triggered

HD – Daily Pivot I

HOG – Picture of Power

LLY – Daily COG – Daily buy watch

Shorts:

AXP – Daily breakdown at support

CELG – 1234 continuation play lower

MOS – Daily Breakdown at support

Today we traded sideways in a range from 65.95 to 65.19 and are sitting on the 200 day moving average.  The chart ended with a narrow body bar which means that the bottom may be near.  I’d expect a very similar day tomorrow since it is an FOMC statement day.  Once the announcement is made we could break higher or lower depending on the statement @ 2:15 pm EST.  My bias for Wednesday will be caution, the market may go either way.  If we gap up or go long at the open, I would be waiting for a higher low on the 5 minute chart before entering long.  I would be looking to sell in the area of 66.20 area where traders will be shorting a 15 minute sell set up at or near 10 or 10:30 am reversal time.  If we rally through this area, I’d be looking for the next hourly sell in the market at or near the 66.50 area.  The Q’s would have to gap below the 65.00 area before I would want to consider playing the first 5 min sell with the lower target at 64.24.   

qqq10242012
qqq10242012
Posted in Daily Analysis, Recommendations, TraderHank's Stock Picks | Comments Off on QQQ anaylsis and stock picks for Wednesday, October 24th, 2012

QQQ update

Posted on October 23, 2012 by TraderHank
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After our narrow range day yesterday, the Q’s gaped down and ran down to support at 65.19 setting a new low by 9:35 am.  Then the market rallied up to minor resistance at 65.68 setting what should be the high of the day at 10:00 am.  The market proceeded to trigger a 15 minute sell moving prices lower taking out the 9:35 low.  Since then, the market has rallied back up making a higher low, breaking the downtrend on the 5 minute chart.  I don’t believe the Q’s will take out the high of the day of 65.68 but rather remain in this trading range until close.  I have no trades today, I basically made my week in my account yesterday, so I decided to reward myself with a day off.  I’ll be back tomorrow with more analysis and great plays!

 
qqq10232012
qqq10232012

qqq10232012
 

Posted in Daily Analysis | Comments Off on QQQ update

TraderHank’s play in STI

Posted on October 22, 2012 by TraderHank
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My next play came during late lunch time about 1:15 pm, I shorted STI which I found during my morning gap scan before the market opened.  Many in my trading room at Affinity took the trade as it broke down lower just after 10 am reversal time.    It fell like a rock without me, no problem, I’ll just wait for the 15 minute sell setup and take the play then, and that is exactly what I did.  It took a while for the smaller  time frames to fix themselves for a short, but when they did I entered STI short just after a GBI(green bar ignored).  My short in STI did not hit target 1, but ended as a profitable trade at about 3:15 pm when I trailed out of the play using 2 minute pivots.  I started to trail the play tighter as the market become bullish as we were heading into the close and the market was due to rally.  Overall, with my trade in PEP and STI it was a very profitable day 🙂

STI
STI

       

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QQQ update and TraderHank’s short play in PEP

Posted on October 22, 2012 by TraderHank
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As mentioned in my last market update, the market has been a narrow range day with price staying between 66.04 and 66.50.  Hard day for longs since we never hit the 66.25 area of support.  The market opened neutral this morning and went higher until 10:10 then sold off within a penny of the morning low before bouncing upward at 11:30.  The market then proceed to attempt to challenge the high over lunch time without much success, and has now sold off after lunch taking out the mornings low.  We are definitely in a narrow sideways pattern.  Over trading today would have been the kiss of death and hopefully many avoided this peril.  My first play was in PEP which I found this morning while doing my 9:45 scan.  Not the best 9:45 bar but acceptable if nothing better, a least the moving averages were in the right direction.  My entry was a 15 minute sell setup with the market.  Price action put in a text book setup 3 bars up into a declining 8 ma.  Yes, it would have been better off the 20 ma, but as long as your lower time frames are ready, such as your 1, 2, and 5 minute charts are in alignment, your 15 minute sell should work like magic!  I’ve been working on money management by attempting to hold more shares to the prior low.  Usually, I would take 1/3 of my share 1/2 way down and call the prior pivot low target II.  Now, I’m calling target II, target I.  PEP worked out beautifully as price action when all the way down to the prior pivot low where I sold 1/2 of my shares and eventually trailed out on a 2 minute pivot area late this afternoon.  This really was a home run trade on a day like today.  Here is the chart for my play in PEP…

pep
pep

  

Posted in 9:45 Wide Range Bar Plays, Daily Analysis | Comments Off on QQQ update and TraderHank’s short play in PEP